*RUSI assessed that for the first time in 200 years, Pakistan Army has
abandoned the British policy of confronting Russia for control over Central
Asia.*

*Pakistan’s army now sees the Russians as their strategic partners. *Pakistan’s
army, emboldened by Operations Zarb-e-Azb and Raddul Fasaad, has taken
concrete steps of reforms and relationship which demonstrate that Pakistan
doesn’t see Russia as a threat anymore and closer defence relationship
between the former hostile powers is visible.

Kamal Alam, the RUSI’s Fellow on defence and report author, wrote that
Pakistan army has pushed the militants out of FATA and cleared the areas of
those groups fighting the Pakistani state, have announced an end to the
British-era policy of the Frontier Crimes Regulation which residents of the
Fata are denied basic legal rights.

“This would mean the fabled ‘buffer zone’ of Curzon and British India would
be no more, once the incoming parliament passes it in law in the coming
year. This means that for the first time there is no need to have a tribal
area. Fata will be abolished, and the areas on the Afghan border will be
brought in line with the laws of the Pakistani state. In effect, the
Russian threat is over. Pakistan’s army and Russia are sealing an
ever-closer defence relationship which will have a strategic impact on the
world stage for years to come. Pakistan’s army has also won over Moscow and
Tehran to their side of the Afghan issue after decades of mistrust.

The RUSI report noted that the current Pakistani military leadership under
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa is set to reverse the
Great Game and thereby end almost 200 years of “looking over their
shoulder” and fearing the Russian threat.

It said: “Pakistan’s army is frantically mending its historically weak ties
with the Russian army and making progress through defence diplomacy at a
dizzying pace by making a pivot to Russia instead of its traditionally
close military ties with the US. There are multiple military deals,
intelligence cooperation and joint training exercises that are redefining
the region. As a US led by President Donald Trump further isolates
Pakistan, the army under Bajwa is shoring up its Western flank with the
help of its erstwhile enemy, the Russian military.”

The report analysed that Pakistan army has felt that the policy of having a
buffer zone with Afghanistan is no longer required as the Russians are no
longer a threat to Afghanistan - and by default Pakistan.

It said that while Pakistan has always been a willing partner of America
and firmly on side of the west, Donald Trump’s administration has forced
Pakistan into policy re-think because “the Trump doctrine is now maturing
into a permanent aggressive foreign policy against Pakistan in the shape of
blocking military aid and putting pressure on the IMF not to grant the
country more bailouts”.

It noted that the aggressive behavior was shown when in the first week of
August, the Americans cancelled military training for the Pakistani
military. “It was no coincidence that as the Americans announced this, the
Russians, for the first time in history, announced the start of military
training for Pakistani military officers.”

“That Pakistan’s army sees Russia as an ally in Afghanistan and Central
Asia is a complete turnaround from 200 years of fearing and indeed fighting
the ‘bear’ from across the River Oxus. Just 20 or even 10 years ago it was
unthinkable that both Russia and Iran would support the Afghan Taliban.
This was previously the preserve of just the Pakistani army and its
powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The Taliban had always been
anti-Russian because of Russia’s support for the Taliban’s erstwhile
enemies, the Northern Alliance, and they had also killed nine Iranian
diplomats. Now, however, it is a widely accepted fact in most American
military circles that both the Russians and the Iranians are following the
Pakistani policy of supporting the Afghan Taliban,” said the report.

The report mentioned how relations between the two started becoming normal
starting from 2002 but then picked up significantly over the issue of
Afghanistan.

“Both countries now feel that the US-led war in Afghanistan is a threat to
their security. Although Bajwa has carried out the policy of rapprochement
to the Russians, there has been a slow drift away from the US by his
predecessors, with the full support of the Corps Commanders, the executive
army of the military leadership which decides strategic decisions as a
group. As the frenzy of American criticism on the Pakistani military rises,
senior Russian defence officials have been publicly praising the Pakistani
military’s efforts against terrorism on the Afghan borders.”

The report said that whilst all the talk during the Cold War was of a
Russian threat to Pakistan and of it reaching the warm waters of the
Arabian Sea, the Russians are now on board with the China-Pakistan Economic
Corridor (CPEC).

It added: “Moscow’s approach to participating in the development of Gwadar
Port in Pakistan, seen as Pakistan’s economic future, is considered a
game-changer in Pakistan.